My Thoughts Be Bloody by Nora Titone

Title:My Thoughts Be Bloody: The Bitter Rivalry Between Edwin and John Wilkes Booth That Led to an American Tragedy

Author: Nora Titone

Call #: 973.7092 TIT

Despite the huge number of books about the Lincoln assassination and all its major players, Nora Titone has written an original and lesser known story about this historical event. Focusing primarily on the life of John Wilkes and the Booth family prior to the assassination, the author provides many essential insights into the character of John Wilkes, the strained relationship he had with his family, especially his father, legendary actor Junius Brutus Booth and his brother the equally talented Edwin Booth. Living up to his father’s name and realizing he was a much lesser actor than his brother, John Wilkes harbored a jealousy and hatred for them that combined with an ever increasing sympathy and support for the Southern cause (both father and brother supported the North), that the reader will see came together in a twisted way that legitimized, in John Wilkes’ mind, not only why he had to kill Lincoln but where.